Subscribe
Follow Us
The LA Clippers were eliminated in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs by the Denver Nuggets in seven games. With their elimination comes a host of questions for the offseason, namely what their roster plans are. With not much to spend by way of free agency, the offseason trade market is the Clippers’ best avenue at improving their team, if rumors are to be believed.
The Clippers have other business to take care of first in the offseason, but after that, they could turn their attention to the trade market, as per Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.
“Some rival teams expect the Clippers to be a team to watch in the trade market this summer once they get the Harden situation settled,” Fischer reports. “LA indeed has some tradeable contracts on its books after deciding to let [Paul] George go without compensation and replacing him with multiple free agents on short-term deals. But first things first: A contract that lines [James] Harden up with [Kawhi] Leonard, who is signed through 2026-27, certainly looms as a very plausible outcome.”
If the Clippers rumors are to be believed, the intention this offseason is to keep the duo of James Harden and Kawhi Leonard together. Following the team’s Game 7 loss to the Nuggets, head coach Tyronn Lue suggested as much.
Harden can become an unrestricted free agent this offseason by using his player option to opt out of his contract. Leonard has two more seasons on his current contract without any options. This postseason was the first healthy playoff run for Leonard in a Clippers jersey since the 2020 season in the bubble.
In 2021, Leonard suffered a knee injury that cut his postseason short. In 2022, he did not play the entire season as he continued his recovery. In 2023, he suffered another knee injury that kept out of the playoffs after Game 2 of the opening round against the Phoenix Suns. In 2024, he returned to the court in the opening round against the Dallas Mavericks, but lingering knee issues sidelined him yet again.
But the Game 7 collapse aside, there were certainly encouraging signs of Leonard and Harden as a duo this past season. Enough that it would appear worth it for the Clippers to run it back.
